Inertia Wins!

A normal week ended with a bang, with more than 450 pages of EPA regulations swelling Friday’s Federal Register to more than 800 pages (normal is around 300). New rules cover everything from power plants to cotton.

On to the data:

• Last week, 80 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 63 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 6 minutes.
• So far in 2015, 2,754 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 3,359 new regulations this year, far fewer than the usual total of 3,500-plus.
• Last week, 2,048 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,796 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 65,119 pages, the 2015 Federal Register is on pace for 79,414 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. 23 such rules have been published so far this year, one in the past week.
• The total estimated compliance cost of 2015’s economically significant regulations ranges from $3.13 billion to $4.38 billion for the current year.
• 230 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2015, 445 new rules affect small businesses; 62 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• Bona fide cotton spot markets.
• Two new regulations from the EPA on carbon emissions from power plants. This 304-page rule from the EPA will cost $1.4 billion to $2.5 billion annually, while for this 152-page rule, “The EPA does not anticipate that this final action will result in any notable compliance costs.”
• The federal government has a United Soybean Board. It is adjusting its membership.
• Copper loop retirements.
• 21 new FAA regulations. See them all here.
• Fresh peppers from Ecuador may now be imported into the U.S. under certain conditions.

For more data, see Ten Thousand Commandments and follow @10KC and @RegoftheDay on Twitter.

It was a short work week for the federal government due to the Columbus Day holiday. But agencies still found the time to publish new regulations ranging from livestock herding to washing machines.

On to the data:

• Last week, 63 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 68 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 40 minutes.
• So far in 2015, 2,674 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 3,343 new regulations this year, far fewer than the usual total of 3,500-plus.
• Last week, 1,796 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,245 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 62,981 pages, the 2015 Federal Register is on pace for 78,043 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. 22 such rules have been published so far this year, one in the past week.
• The total estimated compliance cost of 2015’s economically significant regulations ranges from $1.73 billion to $1.88 billion for the current year.
• 223 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2015, 435 new rules affect small businesses; 61 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• The Health and Human Services Department issued a new 159-page economically significant rule for medical records (would it be cheaper for them to just ask the NSA for their medical record information?). I am scoring this rule at its estimated cost during 2015 of between $39.07 million and 64.08 million. Its annual costs are estimated to exceed $100 million in each of the next two years, hence its economically significant classification. I am not including future years’ costs in our running compliance cost tally.
• Corrections to the Energy Department’s recent washing machine energy-efficiency testing rules.
• Automatic emergency brakes for trucks may eventually become mandatory—this is potentially one step on the way to self-driving trucks, though if regulators lock into one technological standard, they may prevent future improvements, and therefore harm long-run safety. Tread carefully, NHTSA!
• An effort to make foreign-born livestock herders feel more at home on the range?
• New FDA labeling requirements for infant formula will become effective on June 22, 2016.
• Design standards for highways.

For more data, see Ten Thousand Commandments and follow @10KC and@RegoftheDay on Twitter.

The 2015 Federal Register broke the 60,000-page barrier in a big way, with new rules ranging from tuna boats to Nicaraguan archaeology.

On to the data:

• Last week, 68 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 76 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 28 minutes.
• So far in 2015, 2,611 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 3,330 new regulations this year, far fewer than the usual total of 3,500-plus.
• Last week, 1,245 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,832 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 61,185 pages, the 2015 Federal Register is on pace for 78,043 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. 21 such rules have been published so far this year, none in the past week.
• The total estimated compliance cost of 2015’s economically significant regulations ranges from $1.69 billion to $1.81 billion for the current year.
• 219 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2015, 427 new rules affect small businesses; 60 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• If you owe money to the Department of Labor, it has new procedures forgarnishing your wages.
• The federal government has a Tuna Vessel Monitoring Program. It maintains it under the auspices of the Tuna Conventions Act of 1950, as amended in 2000.
• Sulfur content of fuels in Rhode Island.
• The dusky sea snake and three species of coral snake are now endangered species.
• A new regulation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.
• Restrictions on importing archaeological artifacts from Nicaragua.
• The black pinesnake is now a threatened species.
• The Florida bristle fern is now an endangered species.

For more data, see Ten Thousand Commandments and follow @10KC and@RegoftheDay on Twitter.

In another busy week, federal agencies issued new regulations for everything from tomato plants to airplane seats.

On to the data:

• Last week, 76 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 84 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 13 minutes.
• So far in 2015, 2,543 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 3,329 new regulations this year, far fewer than the usual total of 3,500-plus.
• Last week, 1,832 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,301 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 59,940 pages, the 2015 Federal Register is on pace for 78,456 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. 21 such rules have been published so far this year, none in the past week.
• The total estimated compliance cost of 2015’s economically significant regulations ranges from $1.69 billion to $1.81 billion for the current year.
• 213 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2015, 413 new rules affect small businesses; 57 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• Federal regulations allow the importation of live tomato plants from Mexico, which U.S. growers then re-plant in a greenhouse—but there are rules for which “growing media,” also known as soil, are allowed.
• New overtime pay rules for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s employees.
• Federal regulations require truck drivers to use electronic devices to track their working hours. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a new rule for editing the records.
• The military macaw and the great green macaw, both native to Central and South America, are now endangered species.
• The Dakota skipper, a type of butterfly, is the recipient of 19,903 acres of critical habitat in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The Poweshiek skipperling, another butterfly species, is receiving 25,888 acres of critical habitat in Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, both Dakotas, and Wisconsin.
• 23 plant and animal species in the Mariana Islands, Micronesia, and other nearby islands are also getting endangered status.
• Airlines must publish seat size information online so young parents will know which types of baby carriers will work on their flights.

For more data, see Ten Thousand Commandments and follow @10KC and @RegoftheDay on Twitter.